Breathtaking Rakaia Gorge & skiing!

Tired from the countless stacks that we made from snowboarding, we decided to go up the slopes in the arvo and spent the day at Rakaia Gorge. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's probably one of the most amazing places I have ever been to! Driving down these are the things that you'll see along the way:

Mt Hutt as your backdrop

And lots and lots and lots of sheep!

Believe me, I didn't know what to expect of Rakaia Gorge - I had no clue as to what it would've looked like. When we arrived at the lookout...

This is what we saw. BEAUTIFUL!

Honestly, I've never seen water as blue as this. It's just absolutely breathtaking!!! Hahaha I can't stop raving about it because it's just so calming and serene.

We didn't stay for too long as we were running late to catch the bus to Mt Hutt and so we decided that the next day we will go down and walk along the water.

In our proper clothing & gear, thanks to Jaces Ski Hutt :-) Jace is amazing and so is his team, better get your stuff there when you do go!

This time, we went skiing. I've never gone skiing before and Walter had to teach me. He was smart - he took me to the carpet hahaha wherein I totally made a fool of myself! I was so close to giving up because I was just in so much pain from snowboarding (did I mention he crashed into me and his board hit my spine?)... Thankfully he was an absolute gentleman and was patient enough to help me all throughout... :-)

YAY!

Since we were still so sore and tired, we didn't go up the slopes. We just hung back and spent the arvo drinking good coffee and playing on the snow :-)

Methven and around

As far as trying to be updated with my blog... I believe I'm not trying hard enough. :-( Sad to say I can't keep up with my tasks and I'm not as organised as I think. Oh well, such is life. I was thinking about New Zealand today and how much I miss our short holiday, and I realised I haven't finished my series of blogs on how it went.

To recap, we arrived in Christchurch, had dinner with one of my friends, then drove to Methven. We got lost on the way, but it's all good :-) We were flat out tired so we slept really early just to have a good head start for the next day. We got up at 7, keen as anything to go up to the slopes, and then caught a bus to Mt Hutt.

Mishaps really never fail to catch up with me, so halfway up to the mountain I realised every person on the bus had their gear on, whereas the bf and I were in our jumpers and trackies...

Ha ha ha.

I started to freak out a little bit, then I started freaking him out by imparting my observation. We looked at our vouchers and we realised we had to pick up the gear somewhere in town. With that thought, we still managed to convince ourselves to actually think that maybe the ski shop was up the top. Ha!

Lucky the people at Mt Hutt were so nice and accommodating. They set us up - gear, clothes and all! We were so grateful to them for helping us out :-)

Everything got sorted for no extra cost! YAY. LOOOOVE the people in Mt Hutt :-)

We were ready to snowboard all day. I must say - I haven't snowboarded in 4 years and I was really really rusty. Rusty enough to forget that I should've brought Walter (who has never snowboarded before) to the carpet first and try to teach him with my very limited skills. You can guess what happened next.

We got up to the top, all happy, but failed to realise we'd be stacking it all the way down. SMART!

Walter exhausted from stacking it

Nonetheless we had an amazing day making fun of each other! We had millions of bruises, which wasn't fun at all - it was a pain to sleep!!! All's well that ends well though, we managed to get a lot of rest and went up to the slopes again the next day... for skiing!

Glass House Mountains

This is all about Queensland's Glass House Mountains.

Okay, maybe I'll throw in something a little bit more interesting (hint: pubs and alcy?), for those who're growing tired of my nature natured (haha) posts.

I came to Queensland with too little knowledge about Brisbane's outdoors. All I knew was that in Queensland you'll find the Gold Coast and The Great Barrier Reef (which I've yet to visit). Other than that, I pretty much have no idea what there is to see. After our city visit, I realised that there's much more to QLD than just boys washboard abs and girls head-turning curves.

Tippy decided that we should go up to visit the Glass House Mountains. I reckon this is QLD's version of NSW's Blue Mountains. It was named so by Capt. James Cook because the mountains reminded him of glass furnaces. Just like the 3 Sisters, the Glass House Mountains have their own story. They are supposedly, a family of 6 children plus a pair of twins.

Glass House Mountains information at the lookout

Mt Beerburrum?

The lookout that we went up to was Mt Tibrogargan (the "Father" in the legend) and it is 364m tall. Seeing this side of Queensland has made me realise that Australia is full of surprises. I really like the story behind the Glass House Mountains and thought it was way cooler than the Blue Mountains. :-P We went on a little walk down towards the foot of the mountains, but didn't end up at the finish line which is another lookout as we had little kids along with us as well as their nan.

A fallen tree along the Mt Tibrogargan walk

Our hiking buddies for the day!

Mt Coonorwin, my favourite one!

I really enjoyed the drive to the Glass House Mountains because it was a perfectly sunny day and of course we had our own little mishaps, such as that of making a wrong turn and ending up at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. I reckon it would be a brilliant idea to go visit the zoo in the morning then go up to the Glass House Mountains in the afternoon as the sun sets. Too bad we didn't have enough time.

Steve Irwin Way!

We drove into the zoo's parking lot and had a photo by the zoo's shuttle bus to make missing the turn worthwhile. Haha

Queensland sunsets are very pretty.

The view from the drive. Trees make my heart very happy :-)

After absorbing the beauty of the scenery, we drove back to Tippy's but made a pit stop at Ettamogah Pub. Beside it are quaint little shops where you can buy local stuff, which reminded me much of Tasmania and Dubbo. We had a little bite to eat as well as a few beers at the pub, which was of course, enjoyable. The interior is definitely a must-see, with framed cartoon pieces that tells you about the pub's history as well as lots of wooden furniture that really takes you back to the country.

Me being touristy and foolish

Classic country style

Favourite part of all the signage in Ettamogah

Outside the pub just before leaving

The tiring but well spent day trip to the Glass House Mountains called for a big dinner and a few drinks with a couple of Tippy's mates. It was really fun, but I wish we could've explored more of the mountains. Maybe next year I'll do it again.

Last but not least... have a Barefoot Radler! It is :3

PS

I realised I've gone past a thousand views, and wow thanks everyone!!! I never thought I would even go past a hundred in a year (sure went by quick didn't it?). It's all so overwhelming, haha, really. Thank you!!! :-) That said, I want YOUR input for next year's mishaps... I'm really looking for new places to see outside of Australia (hint: youngest country in the world). It would really mean a lot to me if you message me stuff that you want to read about, or places that may be interesting to the rest! :-) Leave a comment and I'll make sure to take note. Thanks very much for sticking it out with me & my lameness and for making my year! :-) xoxoxoxo

LOST

I swear, I thought I'd never get lost if I followed the CityRail timetable.

WELL GUESS WHAT.

This morning I got up at 6am so I could catch the 745am train at Rooty Hill. It's the latest train from our area that would let me arrive in Bankstown at 930am. Phil and I left the house at 730 as the station is only a 2-minute drive from our house. I got there and there was a long but moving queue and I knew I wasn't going to miss that train.

Few minutes after falling in line, the 734am train was announced delayed by 5 minutes. I thought it was great cos this one person took so long in purchasing his weekly ticket (EFTPOS NOT FTW IN THIS SITUATION!!!). Finally, I got my return ticket to Bankstown (which cost me $10 cos it was peak hour - what a fucking joke!) then I went to the platform to wait for the train.

I felt lucky to have been able to catch the 734am train because the timetable showed that it would stop at Lidcombe, where I needed to change trains to get to Bankstown. I immediately hopped in the train and stood next to the door knowing it was a fast train so stops are greatly limited. The ride was smooth and cool thanks to the rain and wind! By the time I got to Parramatta, I realised that I was so close to my stop. I stopped reading my book and waited for the train to arrive at Lidcombe. Much to my surprise... IT WENT PAST THE STATION. I was like, "holy fuck what do I do???"

I WAS LOST! But not really.

The best thing I could come up with at the time was to get off Strathfield - thank God it stopped there. I rang Phil and told him what happened. He just told me to not put my ticket through and just pass through one of the gates. I was able to do so effortlessly. I knew where the bus stop was to get to Uni from Strathfield, but little did I know that it would take so much time. I was standing there outside the train station and it was raining like it never has in days. I thought it was the worst day of my life.

2 buses went past me, telling me that the UWS one was coming soon. HOW SOON IS SOON??? My patience was really starting to run out and I was getting cutties. It arrived 840ish, and things started to get better. I got student discount which I'm not really supposed to (thank you to the Islander driver I love you!) and just enjoyed the drive from Strathfield to Bankstown.

That's my story. I got lost but I found my way. The funniest thing was, when I got to uni I really thought I was late... but it turns out I was the only one who showed up! LOL. Can't wait to go on another train adventure. Hahaha! :-D

RanDUMB conversations:

1. While waiting for Phil to finish enrolment at TAFE:
Dane: I still haven't been paid for work yet.
Ryc: Yeh?
Dane: Uhuh, Maccas.
Ryc: How come?
Dane: I have no idea...
Ryc: Maybe you should call 'em and ask why you're not getting paid?
Dane: OH THAT'S RIGHT, I BETTER DO THAT NOW...

2. In the car:
Phil: Look at that Asian kid! He's sprinting!
Ryc: I wonder why.
Ryc: Oh look there's a kid chasing him!!!
Phil: *cheers boys on*
Ryc: OH maybe they stole something from the supermarket across the road!!!
Phil: What supermarket?
Ryc: That one, where it says Used Car Supermarket!!!
Phil: That's a used car shop...
Ryc: Yeah, but it still has the Used Car Supermarket!!!
Phil: HAHAHAHA
Ryc: OH OK I GET IT IT'S A SUPERMARKET FOR CARS!!!

3. At the TAFE office:
Phil: *signals me to come over*
Ryc: What's going on cuz
Phil: What's my car number?
Ryc: What do you mean?
Phil: The number of the plate of my car.
Ryc: Which car?
Phil: The green one
Ryc: Oh, the Lexus. No I dont. How am I supposed to know?
Phil: I dunno.
*Phil does the exact thing to Dane. Our mutual reaction: WTF WAS HE THINKING??? HAHAHA*

more ranDUMB conversations to come. For now, it's tie-break time for Nadal&Verdasco.

x
Ryc

Oh, goodness me.

I've been here in Oz for a week already, and it was composed of many firsts too. I got my first bank account (Commonwealth Annandale FTW!), and I am currently waiting for my keycard (what would better be known in Phils as an ATM card haha). It was a smooth transaction, thank you to wonderful Ali who didn't really ask for so much details and gave me a good interest rate.

I also got my new phone, thanks to the very very accommodating Drew at Three right across the Myer food court in the city (sorry I didn't look at what it's called). I got a U990 that came free with my $29 cap and I reckon it is a great deal :-D At first I tried to get it from that loser (!!!) at Three in Broadway but he was being a dickhead lawl. Anyhow it's all good now. I've also had it set up to be able to call anywhere in the world & for the bill to be automatically debited to my CommBank account.

On to more interesting things, yesterday, I went to the Post Office where I attempted to send mail for the first time (!!!) and it was more or less a fail/success. First I created my own queue and had to be sent back to the far end of the real queue. LAWL. Then, when it was finally my turn, I was able to buy a stamp for $2.20 (my mail was being sent to my good friend EM in Mississauga, Ontario). That was a good one. After sticking the stamp to the envelope, I went outside Norton Plaza where the post boxes are. As soon as I got there, I saw 2 boxes, one red, one yellow. The red one had 2 slots and the yellow had one. I was sure not to chuck my mail in the yellow canister as it was the express one, meaning I would have had to pay more. The red one was the box of choice, but I didn't know which slot. To make the long story short, I reckon I chucked my 1 month late Christmas card in the local box. Hah. I'm sucha freshie.

Oh and the other day my mum and I took the 440 bus to Town Hall to meet my Aunty so we could head out to Rooty Hill together. I was sitting there, waiting for the closest stop to Town Hall and when I saw it I pressed the stop button. I thought of course that it would stop. BUT IT DIDN'T. So I went to the bus driver and said, "Hi, isn't this the stop to Town Hall?" He goes, "Well I can't really drop you off here cos it's not a stop." I was so embarrased cos the bus was fucking full. HAHAHAHA. But nothing to worry about, we were dropped off at Queen Victoria Building where I ended up combing through Coach, Ferragammo, Oroton and Marcs. LOL. However, tomorrow's a different story. I've got to get the stop right because I have to arrive early at Uni. Lol.

Today, of course I had another chance to embarrass myself and show everyone what a FOB I am... Haha. I went to Bankstown where my Uni's at (UWS Bankstown Campus) with my Mum & Uncle. As soon as we got off the train, we went to the bus stands. I knew we had to get either a 900 or a 922 bus to get to Uni. My uncle being the great person that he is, thought he saw a 922 bus and jumped right in saying "3 adults to UWS please". Turns out it was a 925 bus going to the East Hills. HAHAHA. Okay it was prolly my uncle who got embarrassed but I was the first one kicked out of the bus. LOL.

No worries, today's turning out to be pretty great. Went to George Street after a very filling Portuguese lunch at Nando's. I was able to get myself new thongs (i.e., flip-flops!), and a few tops for a total of $65. Thank God for End of Season sales!!! Technically I got everything for $45 cos I got a gift certificate of $20 to spend in February for spending over $50 :-D Haha. YAY ME.

So yeah. Tomorrow's another day for mishaps, and I'm sure there'll be good stories to tell as it will be my first time to travel alone to Rooty Hill. KEEP 'EM FINGERS CROSSED!!!